October 19
Twenty-Four Years Ago
11:45 P.M.
The bitch kissed her man. When Mish got mad, the voice in her head sounded like an angry, accusatory talk-show host riling up her guests in front of a hungry audience. She had played it cool at the party and had basically mauled her boyfriend to make him forget about kissing that slut. But inside, she was steaming.
“Hey, you okay?” asked Brooks, when Leo had left. The two of them were still sitting in the car alone. This was so not what she had planned for the evening. They were supposed to show Leo a good time, because it was her birthday, but that didn’t include kissing the birthday girl.
She turned away.
“I didn’t want to kiss her, it was just a dare; you know I’m crazy about you, babe,” Brooks said, putting his chin on her shoulder and nuzzling her neck.
She pushed him away. “Liar.”
“God, you can be such a cunt sometimes,” he spat.
“Fuck you,” she said, wiggling away and wrenching the door open.
“Fuck you too,” he said as she slammed the door closed.
She watched him drive away angrily, and felt vindicated. Good, let him feel it. From the corner of her eye, she saw Leo walk toward her house and pretend that she didn’t hear them fighting.
Happy birthday, bitch.